Jordan eyes Gulf

With the conflict in Iraq abating, Jordan has decided to open a tourism bureau in Dubai in the hope of reviving its suffering tourism industry.

In a bid to bring tourists back to the Hashemite Kingdom, the Jordanian Tourism Board announced that it would establish an office in Dubai to coordinate promotional and marketing activities for the Gulf.

The Kingdom, which has suffered greatly as a result of the second intifada, 9/11 and the recent US-led war on Iraq, has witnessed a sharp fall in visitor numbers to sites across the country.

The new tourism bureau will comprise the Minister of Tourism along with 12 representatives from the private sector, who will orchestrate the decision making process.

"In order to improve the performance of the tourism sector, the government has decided to improve the public-private sector coordination,” Waleed Muhajer, Jordan Tourism Board's director of marketing told the UAE-based Gulf news.

Despite the regional uncertainty, he added that the Kingdom expected a 35% increase this year on the 1.5 million international tourist arrivals in 2002. Tourism currently contributes 10% of Jordan’s gross domestic product.